Hanoi > Halong Bay

Thinking of a side trip to Halong Bay from Hanoi...
How many days are needed to enjoy this corner of Vietnam?
I will be going in late March...so it will be cool. Has anyone had experience
in north Vietnam this time of the year?

Are there tours you can book in Hanoi? Or should i just show up in Halong Bay
area & find one. What city do most 2-3 day tours stay at? Any of them sleep
on the boat?


Thanks

Originally posted by Nycutler

Are there tours you can book in Hanoi? Or should i just show up in
Halong Bay area & find one. What city do most 2-3 day tours stay at?
Any of them sleep

on the boat?



Thanks



Plenty of tour places in Hanoi that run two or three day trips to Halong
bay. I used Green Bamboo
(http://www.greenbambootravel.com/northern.htm) and was very
pleased with their service. Specifically we took the 2 day tour,
leaving hanoi about 7 - 8 am, arriving at the ferry port in time for
lunch. Then a boat - 8 tourists, 1 guide and two crew - taking 3-4 hours
to cat-ba island where we spent the night in a basic, but clean hotel.
Return following morning by boat, stopping for a swim. Arriving back
about 4-5 pm next day.



3 day trips will probably have 1 night spent on the boat and a night on
the island and will allow time to visit national park on cat ba island.



Limited public transport to halong - while this might be cheaper it will
take longer and you dont get the information from the guide. You can
hire a boat yourself but having the company of other people on the tour
may be an advantage.



best wishes


--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

There are tons of places in Hanoi to book trips to Halong Bay. Keep in
mind, though, that there are really only about 2-3 tour operators, despite
the fact that you can book a trip at probably 100+ different locations. The
best thing to do is decide what you want and then look for the cheapest
price.

We did a 3 day trip and had a fantastic time. We were given the option of
staying on the boat or in a hotel. We decided to do the first night on the
boat and the second in the hotel. The first night (on the boat) was perhaps
the best sleep we had gotten over the entire month+ that we had been in SE
Asia so far. It was wonderful.

We also did the "long trek" on CatBa Island, which was truly amazing. It is
stunning to see the terrain over which the Vietnamese fighters traveled
regularly during the Vietnam-American war (and others).

We were in Vietnam in February last year and experienced a cold snap. We
had, regrettably, left our fleece in the care of a friend in Chiang Mai, so
we basically resorted to wearing everything we had with us at once! Vietnam
is lovely and full of all sorts of interesting things. Halong Bay was
definitely one of the highlights of our trip! A record of that portion of
our trip is he http://www.kirkanddonna.com/rtw/Vietnam03.htm#031403

Cheers,

Donna
http://KirkandDonna.com/



"NYCutler" wrote in message
...
Thinking of a side trip to Halong Bay from Hanoi...
How many days are needed to enjoy this corner of Vietnam?
I will be going in late March...so it will be cool. Has anyone had
experience
in north Vietnam this time of the year?

Are there tours you can book in Hanoi? Or should i just show up in Halong
Bay
area & find one. What city do most 2-3 day tours stay at? Any of them
sleep
on the boat?


Thanks